A series of disturbances in a moist westerly flow brought significant snowfall to many mountain areas of western Colorado and portions of the Yampa River Basin.
Every event with a place to put it; 7 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.
A series of disturbances in a moist westerly flow brought significant snowfall to many mountain areas of western Colorado and portions of the Yampa River Basin.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Grand Junction, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 28, 9:15 PM MST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 915 PM MST WED FEB 28 2007 UPDATED TO CANCEL REMAINING WARNINGS. .SHORT TERM (REST OF TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY): SNOW HAS DECREASED SUBSTANTIALLY DURING THE EVENING AS THE UPPER LEVEL TROF AXIS SHIFTED EAST OF THE DIVIDE LATE THIS AFTERNOON. LATEST MODELS SHOWED SHORTWAVE RIDGE OVER THE REGION WITH A MODEST NORTHWEST FLOW. RESIDUAL MOISTURE ENTRAINED IN NORTHWEST FLOW WILL CONTINUE TO BRING SNOW TO THE HIGHEST ELEVATIONS OVERNIGHT...HOWEVER WIDESPREAD AND SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS ARE NO LONGER ANTICIPATED. THEREFORE THE WINTER STORM WARNINGS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED. EXPECT THE LULL OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS WILL TURN-AROUND WITH ACTIVITY PICKING UP A LITTLE AS THE NORTHWEST FLOW INCREASES. ALSO COLDER AIR WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE OVERHEAD BRINGING INCREASED LOW LEVEL INSTABILITY. DEEP MOISTURE REMAINS WITH A SATURATED DENDRITIC GROWTH REGION FOR EFFICIENT SNOW PRODUCTION. SO WILL KEEP THE PRESENT WARNINGS GOING FOR THE NORTHERN CO MOUNTAINS THROUGH TONIGHT. OTHER ISSUE FOR TONIGHT WILL BE PATCHY FOG DEVELOPING IN MANY VALLEY AREAS DUE TO TODAYS GOOD PCPN. BY THU THE NEXT IMPULSE WILL MOVE OVER THE AREA KEEPING SNOW GOING OVER THE MOUNTAINS. THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS WILL BE FAVORED IN THE NORTHWEST FLOW. THE 18Z RUNS SEEM TO SHIFT THE TROUGH A LITTLE FARTHER EAST WITH A GOOD COLD SHOT DROPPING INTO THE PLAINS. ALSO THE -36C ISOTHERM AT 500 MB BRUSHES ACROSS THE NORTH DURING THE DAY. HAVE NOT EXTENDED ANY HILITES AT THIS TIME AS IT LOOKS LIKE ACTIVITY WILL NOT BE AS HEAVY AS WE HAVE SEEN THE LAST COUPLE DAYS. ALSO SHOULD SEE A LULL IN THE MORNING. EMBEDDED DISTURBANCES CONTINUE TO BRUSH THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH FRIDAY IN THE NORTHWEST FLOW. THIS WILL KEEP MOUNTAIN SNOW ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH THE END OF THE PERIOD. ONE WAVE ON FRI BRINGS INCREASED WINDS AND A BETTER CHANCE OF SNOW TO THE NORTHERN VALLEYS. TEMPS WILL REMAIN BELOW NORMAL. .LONG TERM (FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY)... LONGWAVE TROUGH OVER MUCH OF THE WRN AND CNTRL U.S. WILL CONTINUE SLIPPING EASTWARD SAT...WITH A PACIFIC RIDGE BUILDING INLAND. ONE FINAL SHORTWAVE EXPECTED TO SLIDE NW-SE ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA FRI NIGHT...AND HAVE BUMPED UP THE CHANCE OF PRECIP A NOTCH FOR THE NRN AND CNTL MTNS FRI NIGHT. SNOW CHANCES DECREASE SAT IN STILL NW FLOW AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN. KNOCKED HIGH TEMPS DOWN A BIT SAT AS BELIEVE COLDER AIR WILL HOLD FAST IN THE VALLEYS. RIDGE FLATTENS SUN-MON AS WESTERLY FLOW DEVELOPS EARLY NEXT WEEK... THOUGH SOME TIMING DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MODELS. WEAK SHORTWAVES INDICATED PERIODICALLY MON-WED...THOUGH TIMING LIKELY TO CHANGE. MADE LITTLE CHANGE TO THE MOSTLY DRY FORECAST MON-WED...GENERALLY FOLLOWING HPC GUIDANCE. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .CO...NONE. .UT...NONE. ELH/JAD/NL
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 917 PM MST WED FEB 28 2007 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-011300- ANIMAS RIVER BASIN-ARCHES/GRAND FLAT-CANYONLANDS/NATURAL BRIDGES- CENTRAL COLORADO RIVER BASIN- CENTRAL GUNNISON AND UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER BASIN- CENTRAL YAMPA RIVER BASIN-DEBEQUE TO SILT CORRIDOR- EASTERN UINTA BASIN-EASTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS- ELKHEAD AND PARK MOUNTAINS-FLAT TOPS- FOUR CORNERS/UPPER DOLORES RIVER- GORE AND ELK MOUNTAINS/CENTRAL MOUNTAINS-GRAND AND BATTLEMENT MESAS- GRAND VALLEY-LA SAL AND ABAJO MOUNTAINS-LOWER YAMPA RIVER BASIN- NORTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-PARADOX VALLEY/LOWER DOLORES RIVER- ROAN AND TAVAPUTS PLATEAUS-SAN JUAN RIVER BASIN-SOUTHEAST UTAH- SOUTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-TAVAPUTS PLATEAU- UNCOMPAHGRE PLATEAU AND DALLAS DIVIDE-UPPER GUNNISON RIVER VALLEY- UPPER YAMPA RIVER BASIN-WEST ELK AND SAWATCH MOUNTAINS- 917 PM MST WED FEB 28 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH. .DAY ONE...REST OF TONIGHT AREAS OF SNOW WILL CONTINUE OVER THE MOUNTAINS DURING THE NIGHT BRINGING LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY WIDESPREAD SNOW IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...ESPECIALLY IN THE MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN COLORADO. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS OR MIXED RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS WILL OCCUR ACROSS THE LOWER ELEVATIONS THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. SNOW WILL DIMINISH FRIDAY NIGHT AND EARLY SATURDAY FOLLOWED BY DRY AND WARMER CONDITIONS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TONIGHT...THOUGH SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS TO THE GRAND JUNCTION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. JAD/NL
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 winter weather, 1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall accumulations of 10 to 17 inches occurred with frequent wind gusts of 20 to 40 mph that produced blowing and drifting snow. A wind gust of 61 mph was recorded at Storm Peak Lab.
Snowfall accumulations of 5 to 7 inches occurred. Frequent wind gusts of 20 to 40 mph produced blowing and drifting snow.
Snowfall accumulations of 3 to 6 inches occurred. Frequent wind gusts of 20 to 30 mph produced blowing and drifting snow.
Snowfall accumulations of 5 to 9 inches blanketed the area. Frequent wind gusts of 20 to 30 mph produced blowing and drifting snow.
Snowfall accumulations of 5 to 11 inches occurred. Frequent wind gusts of 20 to 40 mph produced blowing and drifting snow.
Snowfall accumulations of 5 to 8 inches occurred. Frequent wind gusts of 20 to 40 mph produced blowing and drifting snow. A wind gust of 58 mph was recorded Salida Mountain.
Snowfall accumulations of 6 to 12 inches occurred. Frequent wind gusts of 20 to 40 mph produced blowing and drifting snow.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, March 2007
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 20430, 20433, 20436, 20431, 20432, 20434, 20435.